"pit Bull" Attacks Maltese In Canberra

[Esky the husky]

I read it that way too Cas.

[doctorjoel]

Mr Linke was more than likely making comments regarding those breeds as they are reasonably close in appearance to an APBT and also the crosses, it makes more sense to mention those breeds than say that they may have been Poodles, Chinese Cresteds or cross breeds (Sorry if anyone that owns one of these breeds is offended by that comment)

I think it is commendable that he was "sticking up for" rather than "sticking it to" the APBT

Mastiffs are no where near close in appearance to a pit bull terrier or a stafford! There is no way that if these dogs were described as being of similar size to a pit bull that they could have been mastiff's. A mastiff is a GIANT breed (one of the heaviest in the world in fact) They are also a guardian breed and not a fighting breed. Why would anyone bring mastiffs into this?? I have seen on this forum people telling how they registered their pitbulls as mastiffs to avoid BSL, maybe this is where the confusion comes from, of course any ranger who is fooled by this is incompetent and should not have dogs lives in their hands. Of course Mr Linke would stick up for pitbulls, he owns one.

[poodlefan]

Mastiffs are no where near close in appearance to a pit bull terrier or a stafford! There is no way that if these dogs were described as being of similar size to a pit bull that they could have been mastiff's.

But isn't that the whole point? Your average member of the public probably couldn't differentiate between these breeds if their lives depended on it.

Shark attack witnesses usually get the size of the shark wrong (massive overestimation) and routinely describe them as "white pointers".

Given the trauma associated with this dog attack, I'd say the witness may have done something similar.

Purebred pitbulls aren't common around here.

Edited July 19, 2010 by poodlefan

[doctorjoel]

Mastiffs are no where near close in appearance to a pit bull terrier or a stafford! There is no way that if these dogs were described as being of similar size to a pit bull that they could have been mastiff's.

But isn't that the whole point? Your average member of the public probably couldn't differentiate between these breeds if their lives depended on it.

Shark attack witnesses usually get the size of the shark wrong (massive overestimation) and routinely describe them as "white pointers".

Given the trauma associated with this dog attack, I'd say the witness may have done something similar.

Purebred pitbulls aren't common around here.

Surely even the least dog knowledgeable people can tell the difference between a giant dog as opposed to a medium sized dog? Not sure where you are, but i'd be willing to put money on there being more pure pitbulls than mastiffs! I can understand the misidentifying of a staffy cross as a pitbull but in no way can i understand the constant lumping in of mastiffs to pitbull types

[poodlefan]

Surely even the least dog knowledgeable people can tell the difference between a giant dog as opposed to a medium sized dog? Not sure where you are, but i'd be willing to put money on there being more pure pitbulls than mastiffs! I can understand the misidentifying of a staffy cross as a pitbull but in no way can i understand the constant lumping in of mastiffs to pitbull types

I'm in Canberra - where the attack occured. People can be amazingly inaccurate about what they see under conditions of extreme stress.

I've seen only a handful of either breed here but I can tell you that a lot of dogs get lumped under the term "mastiff" by those unfamiliar with dog breeds.

I'd say both dog and owner are lucky to be in as good a shape as they are - two dogs hell bent on destruction could do far more damage than appears to have been done here.

[Oliversmum]

Mastiffs are no where near close in appearance to a pit bull terrier or a stafford! There is no way that if these dogs were described as being of similar size to a pit bull that they could have been mastiff's.

But isn't that the whole point? Your average member of the public probably couldn't differentiate between these breeds if their lives depended on it.

Shark attack witnesses usually get the size of the shark wrong (massive overestimation) and routinely describe them as "white pointers".

Given the trauma associated with this dog attack, I'd say the witness may have done something similar.

Purebred pitbulls aren't common around here.

Surely even the least dog knowledgeable people can tell the difference between a giant dog as opposed to a medium sized dog? Not sure where you are, but i'd be willing to put money on there being more pure pitbulls than mastiffs! I can understand the misidentifying of a staffy cross as a pitbull but in no way can i understand the constant lumping in of mastiffs to pitbull types

I own South African Boerboels - also known as South African Mastiffs - females can grow as large as 65kg and Males anywhere from 65 - 80 kg. Yes they are considered a giant breed. I can't tell you how many people ask me if my smaller bitch Kip - 55kg - has Amstaff, Pitt Bull etc..Quite often they think they are Boxer x mastiff x Pitty among many other variations. This is the danger, people can just assume what a dog is. This is why BSL scares me and this is why I also understand how many dogs are victims of it. By the way, some of the most fabulous and well adjusted dogs I've met have been APBT. I once owned a rescued APBT x and he too was the most amazingly patient, social and stable dog I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

[poodlefan]

FHRP has been asked if her Hungarian Vizslas are pitbulls

Red dog, brown nose.... gotta be one right??

[doctorjoel]

I'd say both dog and owner are lucky to be in as good a shape as they are - two dogs hell bent on destruction could do far more damage than appears to have been done here.

Well that is for certain, If the attackers were pitbulls, a maltese would have stood little chance. My partners grandmother had her golden retreiver killed by three dogs, my partner went to the pound to see the dogs herself as she was told one was a mastiff. In reality one was a rednose pitbull type, one was a staffy type and the "mastiff" was a small/medium black crossbreed.. to this day grandma is afraid of our mastiff simply because of this mislabeling.

[poodlefan]

Well that is for certain, If the attackers were pitbulls, a maltese would have stood little chance. My partners grandmother had her golden retreiver killed by three dogs, my partner went to the pound to see the dogs herself as she was told one was a mastiff. In reality one was a rednose pitbull type, one was a staffy type and the "mastiff" was a small/medium black crossbreed.. to this day grandma is afraid of our mastiff simply because of this mislabeling.

I remember the incident well.

[Oliversmum]

FHRP has been asked if her Hungarian Vizslas are pitbulls

Red dog, brown nose.... gotta be one right??

Hey, I've got a very aged Australian Cattle Dog, very old style, big, stocky and with a massive head - back in in younger days when he was a spritely young lad, I had an argument with a bloke who bet his house that my blue dog had Amstaff in him...go figure.

As I said, people just blurt out what they think a dogs breeding is, and, in particular, I imagine in a situation where there may be an attack etc, clarity of ID may be someone skewed. JMO

[doctorjoel]

Yep, in this case, the identity of the breed seems to have been very hastily determined, it just makes my blood boil when someone in Mr Linke's position states that a mastiff could easily be misidentified as a pitbull. I have owned a rescue pitbull and would trust her with a baby but not other dogs.. ever...

BTW poodlefan, it was a horrible incident and took grandma a long time to recover but she is well on the way now and thanks to DOL and albury dog rescue has a beautiful rescue corgi "Ben" to keep her company... i'm sure reading the article in todays paper brought up some painfull memories for her though

[Moselle]

Surely even the least dog knowledgeable people can tell the difference between a giant dog as opposed to a medium sized dog? Not sure where you are, but i'd be willing to put money on there being more pure pitbulls than mastiffs! I can understand the misidentifying of a staffy cross as a pitbull but in no way can i understand the constant lumping in of mastiffs to pitbull types

I'm in Canberra - where the attack occured. People can be amazingly inaccurate about what they see under conditions of extreme stress.

I've seen only a handful of either breed here but I can tell you that a lot of dogs get lumped under the term "mastiff" by those unfamiliar with dog breeds.

I'd say both dog and owner are lucky to be in as good a shape as they are - two dogs hell bent on destruction could do far more damage than appears to have been done here.

One would think that someone like Mr. Linke would be somewhat able to identify certain breeds. Once again, he is in no position in steering people's suspicion from pitbull to staffy, to mastiffs, etc etc. He should have remained neutral. In making such a statement could simply serve to make people think that what they think is a pitbull could possibly be a staffy, mastiff, etc.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Moselle

[poodlefan]

Moselle:

One would think that someone like Mr. Linke would be somewhat able to identify certain breeds.

What's Mr Linke's ability to ID a dog got to do with it.. he's mentioned breeds OTHERS might confuse for pitbulls.

They could have been Labradors for all we know.

[j]

It seems inevitable that whenever there are dog attacks by dogs perceived as "pitbulls" ...people start jumping up and down. It is well about time that lovers of this breed start acknowledging the fact that pitbulls are indeed DA. It really annoys me to no end when all kinds of excuses are entered into. The typical and most popular excuse ? Ah....it cannot possibly be a purebred pitbull, it just has to be a crossbreed. WTF. It is all too easy to say that all dogs involved in killing or maiming people or animals are not purebred pitbulls but a cross. Well, you tell me...if it is a cross then which part of that cross should be deemed DA or HA? Lest we forget....let us not name the pitbull part of the equation or else!

Well if rangers, media and the general public hadn't got it wrong so many times when it comes to identifying any dogs, people wouldn't question it constantly.

If your dog had been put down because it was deemed it looked like a pitbull, maybe you'd ask the questions too.

People want and demand clarity when it comes to these issues because there is so much at stake, not because they have rose tinted glasses on, and think that all pitbulls are angels, i don't care what breed done what as long as you know for sure what happened.

I do not believe that rangers are the closest thing to psychics. They suck, in fact, when it comes to identifying breeds and should never be put in a position of making assumed and poor guesses! I also find it completely appaling that innocent dogs resembling pitbulls have been destroyed. Even purebred pitbulls have their place in society and should not be destroyed simply because of their breeding.

And yet you're prepared to accept that a person who doesn't deal with dogs every single day, who saw two dogs attacking his dogs, was likely highly stressed at the time of this incident, HAS identified them correctly?

Surely even the least dog knowledgeable people can tell the difference between a giant dog as opposed to a medium sized dog? Not sure where you are, but i'd be willing to put money on there being more pure pitbulls than mastiffs! I can understand the misidentifying of a staffy cross as a pitbull but in no way can i understand the constant lumping in of mastiffs to pitbull types

I'm in Canberra - where the attack occured. People can be amazingly inaccurate about what they see under conditions of extreme stress.

I've seen only a handful of either breed here but I can tell you that a lot of dogs get lumped under the term "mastiff" by those unfamiliar with dog breeds.

I'd say both dog and owner are lucky to be in as good a shape as they are - two dogs hell bent on destruction could do far more damage than appears to have been done here.

One would think that someone like Mr. Linke would be somewhat able to identify certain breeds. Once again, he is in no position in steering people's suspicion from pitbull to staffy, to mastiffs, etc etc. He should have remained neutral. In making such a statement could simply serve to make people think that what they think is a pitbull could possibly be a staffy, mastiff, etc.

I'm sure that if Michael Linke saw the dogs, he would be much more capable of identifying them than the victim in this attack. However, he didn't, and like everyone else here, has been provided with a description of them, from which he has stated the breeds "could" be. Not that they are. They could be.

[Moselle]

It seems inevitable that whenever there are dog attacks by dogs perceived as "pitbulls" ...people start jumping up and down. It is well about time that lovers of this breed start acknowledging the fact that pitbulls are indeed DA. It really annoys me to no end when all kinds of excuses are entered into. The typical and most popular excuse ? Ah....it cannot possibly be a purebred pitbull, it just has to be a crossbreed. WTF. It is all too easy to say that all dogs involved in killing or maiming people or animals are not purebred pitbulls but a cross. Well, you tell me...if it is a cross then which part of that cross should be deemed DA or HA? Lest we forget....let us not name the pitbull part of the equation or else!

Your reaction is typical of the lynch mob mentality that the mass media thrives on, the Pit Bull is much maligned and often innocent of wrong doings so much so it has a name-Brown Dog Syndrome, the general public is so adament that every dog attack by a medium sized dog is a Pit Bull rampage

People are passionate about defending the Pit Bull and other Bullies against the horrible prejudices that are heaped on them by the (largely) ill informed public. Ignorance is a killer and too many people have had their beloved family pets killed due to looking like a Pit Bull.

It annoys me that if a Pit Bull is slandered and abused people are not meant to defend them but anybody should be allowed to defend their breed from nasty verbal attacks and if it comes accross as over defensive, well no wonder.

Lest we forget.....The 1000's of Pitbulls killed by people with the same thoughts as yours.

So true, people always being asked why they would have that breed rather than another....well why would one get a maltese, a kelpie, a mastiff etc etc etc? Yet owners of any other breed don't get hassled.

Why should Pitbull owners have to justify their breed of choice?!

Why don't owners of other breed of dogs get hassled? perhaps you should try answering that question yourself, lol.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Moselle

[poodlefan]

Why don't owners of other breed of dogs get hassled? perhaps you should try answering that question yourself, lol.

They do. You need to read more posts here.

[casowner]

I have owned a few Bullmastiffs and Bullmastiff crosses and yes if they are crossed they can easily be misidentified as a pitbull by normal pet people, no one is mastiff bashing but the point is anyone under duress that has there dog being attacked normally goes for the "pitbull" breed reference. Is it fair - no but all you have to do is read the paper or listen to the news after an attack and it is generally a "pitbull attack". I think people are trying to show that it is good that for once a person in the media is not pressing the automatic scare mongering button

[Brennan's Mum]

I was reading this topic, and the talk about identifying a Pit Bull made me remember a link I was shown once. This link features 25 purebred dogs, only one is an APBT...it's not that easy to find the one that is the Pit Bull...

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

[Moselle]

It seems inevitable that whenever there are dog attacks by dogs perceived as "pitbulls" ...people start jumping up and down. It is well about time that lovers of this breed start acknowledging the fact that pitbulls are indeed DA. It really annoys me to no end when all kinds of excuses are entered into. The typical and most popular excuse ? Ah....it cannot possibly be a purebred pitbull, it just has to be a crossbreed. WTF. It is all too easy to say that all dogs involved in killing or maiming people or animals are not purebred pitbulls but a cross. Well, you tell me...if it is a cross then which part of that cross should be deemed DA or HA? Lest we forget....let us not name the pitbull part of the equation or else!

Well if rangers, media and the general public hadn't got it wrong so many times when it comes to identifying any dogs, people wouldn't question it constantly.

If your dog had been put down because it was deemed it looked like a pitbull, maybe you'd ask the questions too.

People want and demand clarity when it comes to these issues because there is so much at stake, not because they have rose tinted glasses on, and think that all pitbulls are angels, i don't care what breed done what as long as you know for sure what happened.

I do not believe that rangers are the closest thing to psychics. They suck, in fact, when it comes to identifying breeds and should never be put in a position of making assumed and poor guesses! I also find it completely appaling that innocent dogs resembling pitbulls have been destroyed. Even purebred pitbulls have their place in society and should not be destroyed simply because of their breeding.

And yet you're prepared to accept that a person who doesn't deal with dogs every single day, who saw two dogs attacking his dogs, was likely highly stressed at the time of this incident, HAS identified them correctly?

Surely even the least dog knowledgeable people can tell the difference between a giant dog as opposed to a medium sized dog? Not sure where you are, but i'd be willing to put money on there being more pure pitbulls than mastiffs! I can understand the misidentifying of a staffy cross as a pitbull but in no way can i understand the constant lumping in of mastiffs to pitbull types

I'm in Canberra - where the attack occured. People can be amazingly inaccurate about what they see under conditions of extreme stress.

I've seen only a handful of either breed here but I can tell you that a lot of dogs get lumped under the term "mastiff" by those unfamiliar with dog breeds.

I'd say both dog and owner are lucky to be in as good a shape as they are - two dogs hell bent on destruction could do far more damage than appears to have been done here.

One would think that someone like Mr. Linke would be somewhat able to identify certain breeds. Once again, he is in no position in steering people's suspicion from pitbull to staffy, to mastiffs, etc etc. He should have remained neutral. In making such a statement could simply serve to make people think that what they think is a pitbull could possibly be a staffy, mastiff, etc.

I'm sure that if Michael Linke saw the dogs, he would be much more capable of identifying them than the victim in this attack. However, he didn't, and like everyone else here, has been provided with a description of them, from which he has stated the breeds "could" be. Not that they are. They could be.

Even better, the fact that Mr. Linke has not seen the dogs is even more reason not to make such wild assumptions. So you are of the opinion that Mr. Linke is entitled to sway people's mentality into thinking that what they may perceive as a pitbull could in fact be a staffordshire terrier or a mastiff? please spare me.

[doctorjoel]

I bet if Mr Linke owned a mastiff instead of a pitbull there would have been no mention Mastiff's in relation to this incident. I would have a much easier time believing someone mistook a bullmastiff x for a pitbull... at least there is some bully in there!